Chapter 7: The Courts in the Legacy of Sulla
CHAPTER 7 Courts in the Legacy of Sulla 7.1 INTRODUCTION The Romans loved their legal system, and were very proud of Roman justice. In addition to providing stability to the social order, the courts served as a vehicle for launching (and sustaining) many a Roman‘s political career and reputation. Cases argued in court were not won merely by a solid presentation (or refutation) of the facts. The rhetorical skill of the advocate (lawyer) arguing each case had a very profound effect on the outcome. The jurors expected not only solid evidence; they also wanted a darn good speech! In addition to the jury, many trials were very well-attended by crowds of people, for trials were a source of entertainment long before the O. J. Simpson case! In the Legacy of Sulla, we allow our players to argue cases before a ―Jury‖ consisting of a randomly selected fellow PC. Player Characters can also serve as the Iudex (judge) in a case. PC trial participants receive beneficial influence points for participating in the legal system. 7.2 CIVIL COURT Civil courts are where trials concerning slander, libel, etc (in short, anything not tried in criminal court) take place. Civil court cases are under the jurisdiction of the Praetor Urbanus, if dealing only in Roman citizens, or by the Praetor Peregrinus, if non-Romans are involved. 7.3 CRIMINAL COURTS Criminal courts are where trials concerning actual crimes (murder, treason, harm or destruction of property, etc) take place. Criminal court cases are under the jurisdiction of the Praetor Urbanus, of dealing only in Roman citizens, or that of the Praetor Peregrinus, if foreigners are involved. Treason, in all its forms, shall be tried by the Popular Assembly in the Comitia Populi thread. The Praetor Urbanus shall preside in treason cases, and all Roman citizens of the Legacy of Sulla shall act as jury. Magistrates with imperium may not be charged with a crime. 7.4 JURY In all cases a jury of 60 NPCs will be assembled. To represent these NPCs, one PC will be chosen randomly by the Iudex via die roll (note: this die roll must be CCed directly to the Arbiter account, not forwarded). Magistrates with imperium may not be charged with a crime. Write this down, „cause it‟s important! Many a slick Roman politician avoided conviction for years simply be ensuring he remained in a position which had imperium associated with it. A clever fellow might keep getting prorogued as governor of a province year after year, just to ensure he didn‟t have to face a jury. Each active PC will be assigned a number. A die consisting of 1 side per eligible PC will then be rolled. The number rolled will be matched with the corresponding PC, and that PC will serve as a juror. For example, there are 5 active and eligible PCs. The Iudex will assign a number (in the comments section of the die roll) to each. A 5-sided die will be used. In this scenario, the number 3 is rolled, therefore Appius Terentius will serve as the Jury in the case. Eligible PCs are any PCs active in the SOTR and not involved in the case as a Iudex, advocate, prosecutor or defendant. If a PC fails to notify the iudex that they accept the jury selection within 1 IRL week of being notified, they will suffer a 10% influence loss. Upon successfully serving as Jury, the PC will receive 5 Pietas. Juries are encouraged to consider the case on its merits, and not in-game connections. 7.5 THE PUBLIC DOCKET The Arbiter(s) will formulate a list of cases that are available for PCs to take on. Each case will have a Prosecution, Defense, Case Summary, and Point Gain Potential assigned to it. PCs are also free to charge other PCs. A maximum of 10 cases shall be available, listed on the site sulla.wikia.com. PCs can sign up for any case on the COURTS thread, making clear which case(s) they are taking on and whether they intend to be the prosecution or defense advocate. Each case will have unique, distinct benefits to winning, for either the defense or prosecution. There are no penalties for losing a case – however, even in defeat a well-presented case can earn the advocate points! 7.5.1 Marcus Tullius Cicero Once a PC signs up for a case on either side, there is a two week period for another PC to take the opposing side. If no other PC is forthcoming, the Arbiter either appoints a PC to serve as opposing counsel, or may appoint NPC Marcus Tullius Cicero to serve as the opposing counsel. When going against Cicero, you can figure that about a third of the jurors are so enthralled with his rhetoric that they‘ll side with him every time. It will become very difficult to get a majority of jurors to side with you. If you lose the case, however, your reputation will still grow providing you gave it your best shot. After all, you were arguing against the best jurist anyone living can remember! And if you win, well…. 7.6 COURT PROCEEDINGS The Praetor under whose jurisdiction the case falls must either find a PC Senator to serve as Iudex (judge) for the case, or serve as the judge himself. If no PC can be found to act as Iudex, the Arbiter(s) or Advisor(s) will play the Iudex. The Iudex must consult with both advocates and select a start date for the case. The Iudex must also notify the selected Jury player of the start date. On the start date, the Iudex will open proceedings on the COURTS thread, and will ask for the prosecution‘s argument, to be posted within 3 days. Once the argument is heard, the Iudex will call for the defense‘s argument, also to be posted within 3 days. Once both arguments are presented, the Iudex will call for the Jury‘s verdict. The player selected as Jury will present the verdict (via email) to the Arbiters, expressed in terms of the number of jurors for or against: Number of Jurors for Prosecution/Number of Jurors for Defense (35/25) The total number must equal 60. This number can be modified by the Arbiters if bribery has taken place. The end number will represent the final verdict of the jury, and will be delivered to the Iudex for announcement. Advocates must be prepared to deliver their arguments within one month of signing up for the case. If an advocate signs up for a case but cannot fulfill their duty, they will be docked one half of the potential gain for their advocacy, and removed from the docket. Jury players must deliver their verdict within 1 RL week of the Iudex requesting it. Failure to do so will result in a 10% penalty to their total influence (unless a short absence is authorized by the Arbiters). 7.7 BRIBERY Advocates can bribe the jury, just as in ancient Rome. If an advocate feels his case needs a little pick me up, jurors can be bribed at the rate of 10,000 D per juror. Advocates are free to spend more than that, if they feel it necessary. Votes bought will always be applied to jurors who do not favor your case when available. If a juror is faced with two equal bribes, they will retain their initial opinion and pocket the money from both sides. If a juror who already favors the briber‘s case is offered a bribe, they will pocket the money. Bribes are non-refundable. As with any illegal activity, there is a chance that bribery will be discovered and reported to the Urban Praetor. That chance is arrived at by the following: (# of Jurors Bribed)/2 = % chance of discovery (rounded up to nearest whole number) 7.8 TIPS FOR BUILDING A SOUND ARGUMENT You can rely simply on the roll of the dice to see if you win a case in the courts…but you probably won‘t! Consider these tips for building a winning record in the courts: 1. Understand the facts of the case. The SOTR usually gives only the briefest of descriptions of what the legal issue is, but that description should be enough to get started. None of the cases offered for trial is a slam-dunk for either the defense or the prosecution. 2. Understand a little bit about Roman Law. No, we don‘t mean you have to be a lawyer, far from it! But spending just a little time on Google can do wonders for your case. For example, if your case involved the destruction of private property, a Google search with the terms ―private property rights Roman Law‖ will probably give you some really good ammo for your argument. The foundation of Roman Law was written in ―the Twelve Tables.‖ Often you‘ll see advocates in LOS citing this or that passage from the Twelve Tables…again an internet search program can be a best friend. 3. State the facts of the case. Just because you‘ve read the case info in the SOTR doesn‘t mean that anyone else has! Do NOT jump into your argument assuming everyone knows what the crime is, or even who the plaintiff and defendant are! Introduce the case to your jury starting at the beginning. 4. Avoid the temptation to invent a ―smoking gun.‖ If the facts of the case are that Lucius claims he saw Gaius steal a loaf of bread from his bakery, but that Gaius denies it, try not to ―invent‖ fifty witnesses who swear that they saw Gaius do the deed. You can embellish the facts a little to make the story interesting, but some bit of slam-dunk evidence which makes it impossible to lose will simply not be allowed. 5. Eloquence counts! You don‘t have to be overly flowery in your rhetoric, but not sounding like a complete imbecile doesn‘t hurt either. Good grammar, reasonable spelling, and good punctuation are always appreciated. 6. ―Wordy‖ isn‘t necessarily ―Good.‖ You don‘t have to go on for pages and pages, but on the other hand, if all you say is ―My client didn‘t do it, and everyone knows it,‖ you probably are not going to earn maximum points from the arbiters and judge either. 7.9 A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE EFFORT For each case successfully concluded, the winning advocate will be awarded influence equal to the potential gain.. The Iudex will receive 2 Gravitas for each case successfully concluded (not to exceed 10 Gravitas in one Quarter). Regardless of the outcome, the Arbiters can give a bonus of up to 5 Auctoritas for a well-argued case. The Legacy of Sulla © Copyright 2011 Jim Sebastian